


The Rarer Difficulties of Motherhood

by whoneedsapublisher



Category: Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magika | Puella Magi Madoka Magica
Genre: F/F, Terrible attempts to hit on married women
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-22
Updated: 2017-02-22
Packaged: 2018-09-26 04:42:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,227
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9863243
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whoneedsapublisher/pseuds/whoneedsapublisher
Summary: Junko encounters a parenting dilemma she never expected.





	1. The Rarer Difficulties of Motherhood

**Author's Note:**

  * For [rankarana](https://archiveofourown.org/users/rankarana/gifts).



Junko couldn’t help but feel betrayed that no one had warned her just how ridiculous being a mother could be. Sure, she’d known it would be hard- even beyond changing diapers, even beyond being woken up at 3AM, even beyond the cost, even beyond the stress, it was a constant emotional drain. On top of that, taking maternity leave had strained her business relationships, and she had to fight constantly against the unspoken recommendation that she give up her career now that she had children. Still, she’d expected those things- she and Tomohisa had discussed all of that before she got pregnant.

What no one told her about was the absurd situations you ended up in that people without children would just never encounter. Standing in line holding a stuffed animal and wearing a character hat trying to explain the difference between fictional bears and real bears to a little girl in costume. Trying to pick up a saucepan and a mug of coffee with one hand while waving a spoon with the other and trying to make airplane noises with her handbag between her teeth and close the oven door with her foot. And, of course, anything involving bath time. But she’d gladly go through all of them again if it got her out of this newest and most absurd situation.

“Hello Mrs. Kaname,” Sayaka said, in what Junko feared she probably thought was a suave and subtly flirty tone. God, she was even trying to flutter her eyelashes. This poor girl watched too much television.

“Good afternoon Sayaka. How is your mother doing?” _Your mother who is younger than I am._ Junko barely restrained herself from adding. “Madoka mentioned she was ill recently.”

And where WAS Madoka? Probably in the bathroom or something, otherwise how would Sayaka have managed to slip away and come to the kitchen?

Predictably, her attempt to subtly remind Sayaka of their situation did nothing to dissuade her, but at least she seemed a little caught off guard.

“Oh, uh, she’s fine. It was just a summer cold or something.”

Junko noted with mild despair that Sayaka was now twirling her hair with a finger and trying to accentuate her chest. How did that Kamijou boy never notice Sayaka liked him if she was this forward all the time? For that matter, why on earth couldn’t she still have a nice, healthy, age-appropriate crush on him? Or even Madoka, for heaven’s sake, they’d make a cute couple. Or the Shizuki girl. Anything other than… this.

Junko first noticed “this” a few days ago. It had been a blazing hot summer day and Junko had been enjoying it lying on a deck chair in the shade with a bikini and a cold beer watching Tomohisa tend to the garden. Watching with increasing frustration as she unsuccessfully tried to convince him to take a break and join her. Her latest strategy of “get over here before I throw this beer at you Mohi, I swear” was interrupted by Madoka at the entrance from the house.

“I’m home!” Madoka called out cheerfully, and Junko pushed up her sunglasses and glanced over at her.

“Welcome home, dear. Come help me convince your father to get out of the sun before he gets heat stroke.”

Madoka giggled, seemingly not taking her entirely seriously. The nerve. Before Junko could explain that no, really, he’d been out for hours in the hottest day of the year and she was not taking him to the hospital in this outfit, she noticed that Sayaka was with her daughter.

“Oh, hello Sayaka, I didn’t see you there.”

Sayaka was staring at her open mouthed. If she’d been any more exaggerated she’d be on par with a cartoon character hitting themselves in the foot with their jaw as their eyes popped out of their head. When Junko addressed her, she managed to mumble a greeting while turning bright red. At the time, Junko hadn’t given it much thought other than to momentarily be proud that she still had it even after all these years and two kids, and Madoka had dragged Sayaka away to study or whatever they actually did when they were supposed to be studying. But that weekend, when she noticed that Sayaka kept making excuses to be in the kitchen and sneak glances at her, she began to worry.

Now, apparently, Sayaka was past just looking.

“So, uh, Mrs. Kaname, um, how’s things with you? I mean, Madoka talks about how cool you are like, a lot, and how you have trouble at work but you’re totally badass about it, but like, uh, how’s that going?” Junko barely stopped herself from groaning in exasperation as Sayaka visibly thought of a new idea and leaned forward to say softly. “Do you ever get.. you know… frustrated?”

Junko wasn’t sure whether she was annoyed or impressed that Sayaka seemed completely undeterred by the fact that she was married, but this was certainly not something she wanted to deal with. Maybe if Sayaka was ten years older and Tomohisa was ten years deader, but she didn’t see her leaving the love of her life to play Mrs. Robinson to her daughter’s schoolmate.

It was time to nip this in the bud. She’d hoped that Sayaka would just let this little crush play out unobtrusively and look back on in embarrassment in the future. Let her think that “luckily she never caught on, I would have died of embarrassment!” and save everyone the awkwardness. Unfortunately, if she was going to be this aggressive, she was going to have to break her heart. She just hoped that Sayaka wouldn’t be too embarrassed to visit Madoka, her daughter would be heartbroken if she lost her best friend.

“Look, Sayaka…” she started, attempting to keep her voice gentle and even.

“YOU’RE LIKE, REALLY HOT,” Sayaka suddenly blurted out. “WE SHOULD TOTALLY MAKE OUT.”

Junko stopped mid sentence and stared blankly at her, thanking the heavens that Tomohisa was out shopping. “…No, dear, we really shouldn’t.”

 


	2. Ten Years Deader (Or Close Enough)

The house felt very empty these days. Madoka was off at university, living with her long time girlfriend, who was certainly devoted, but who initially struck Junko as a little off and somewhat… obsessive. Her restrained but not entirely hidden disapproval was hopefully not a major factor in their choice to attend a Tokyo university together rather than somewhere local, but Junko feared it might have been why they visited fairly infrequently the first year.

Luckily, though, Madoka was an obviously positive influence on her lover, and every time she met the two of them, the girl seemed more confident and less clingy. She suspected that they were planning on taking a graduation trip to America to get married, and if they came for her blessing, she’d be glad to give it.

Madoka wasn’t the only child away from home, however. Tatsuya had turned out to be quite the wizard at computers, a skill that Junko was certain he hadn’t inherited from either of his parents, and had been granted a scholarship to a prestigious boarding school after winning a national competition, so Junko saw very little of him outside of the summer months. Unfortunately, she reflected, this probably wasn’t exactly a downside to Tatsuya. Even though she knew he chafed under it, she couldn’t help being a little overprotective after Tomohisa’s death.

Tomohisa’s death. Even after three years, the pain in Junko’s heart felt fresh. A random car accident felt so unfair and sudden, and raising Tatsuya alone while trying to play damage control on her career had robbed her of the chance to truly grieve. At least that was one advantage to the house being devoid of children- there was no one stopping her from brooding and drinking more than she should when memories she couldn’t escape surfaced. Then again, being alone in the house they’d shared probably lead to those memories resurfacing in the first place. There was a special kind of loneliness to living as one person in a house built for four.

And moping around and considering if it was too early to start drinking was just what Junko had been doing with her Saturday when the doorbell rang. Unsure whether to be annoyed at having to deal with someone or glad of the distraction, Junko put the bottle she’d been cautiously examining away and headed to the entrance hallway.

“Hello, what is it- oh, hello, Sayaka.”

Of all the people Junko expected to see at the door, Madoka’s former classmate Sayaka Miki was certainly not one of them. Something like a decade ago, Madoka and Sayaka had seemingly had a major falling out, and Junko hadn’t seen much of the girl since. While it seemed that Madoka’s big heart lead to her forgiving whatever slight had started the whole business and them reconciling, the closeness they’d shared as kids seemed irreversibly broken. The two had settled as friends but not best friends as Madoka started spending more time with the transfer student she’d eventually end up dating.

Junko, if she was entirely honest, had a theory on what had put the rift between them. It seemed unlikely to be coincidence that the day Madoka had burst into tears at the question “Oh? Is Sayaka not with you?” was very soon after the day that Sayaka had tried clumsily to come on to her. She was never sure if Madoka had loved Sayaka or if she’d simply felt betrayed that her friend would do something like that, and hadn’t ever wanted to ask, but the fact that Madoka went over to Sayaka’s house far more often than vice versa after they made up cemented Junko’s suspicions that Madoka had heard that incredibly awkward conversation.

So then what was little miss Miki doing on her doorstep? Although perhaps “little” wasn’t so appropriate, given that the girl had the nerve to be taller than her now. The years seemed to have been kinder to her than they had to Junko, and clearly she hadn’t given up her sporty side, guessing by how in shape she was. And my was it easy to tell what shape she was in with that outfit. It must be some kind of workout or running clothes, but it was pulling double duty as an excellent showcase for toned legs and a nice set of abs. Her biceps weren’t half bad either, and oh my god was she staring?

“Um… Hello, Ms. Kaname,” Sayaka said, nervously. Junko hadn’t thought of the day where Sayaka had attempted to confess to her in years, but now that she was confronted by the girl herself she couldn’t get it out of her mind. Today she didn’t seem to have any of the eager confidence of that day. Of course, she probably wasn’t trying to confess this time.

“If you’re looking for Madoka, I’m afraid she’s not in town this weekend, they’re visiting the Akemi family this break,” Junko said, wondering if that was even why Sayaka had come.

“That’s uh… I’m not here looking for Madoka.” Sayaka fidgeted a little and then seemed to compose herself. “I heard from Madoka that Tatsuya left for boarding school, and according to my coach-” Oh, so she did do a sport. Junko made a mental note to ask which. “-Ms. Saotome is out of town with her husband-” God, Kazuko’s second honeymoon. She’d had a rough time finding someone who could maintain a relationship with her, but when she did find one she threw herself into it full force. Junko wondered if she was going to end up retiring as a teacher to be a full time housewife. “-so I kind of thought, maybe, you might be lonely?”

Well, that wasn’t the direction she expected this conversation to head in. She was tempted to reassure Sayaka and send her on her way, but… the truth was she _was_ lonely. She smiled sadly at Sayaka. “Don’t you have anything better to do with your weekends than keep an old woman company?”

Sayaka shook her head.

“Not if it’s you,” she said, and while she managed to look sincere and innocent, Junko saw a glint in her eye that belied the flirtatiousness of the comment.

_Well, well. Old crushes die hard, eh?_

Before she could say anything, Sayaka continued. “I actually just came here during my run, getting in some practice for the next big track event, but after I go home and get changed I thought maybe we could go see that comedy that’s supposed to be good? _All the Fun’s in the Dice_ , I think it was called. Then we could like, pick up dinner or something? I haven’t eaten.”

Junko just barely restrained herself from asking “You mean like a date?” Maybe this was perfectly innocent. Or, more likely, maybe Junko was okay with some ulterior motives. Just for today.

“That sounds lovely, Sayaka.”

Sayaka beamed so widely that you’d think she’d won first prize at this mysterious track event she was practising for.

“Okay! I’ll come back in about an hour then! See you soon!” With that, she turned and jogged off, as Junko watched her leave. A sight she wouldn’t mind seeing a few more times.

Well, what the hell. Maybe she could use a new romance in her life.

As long as Madoka _never_ found out.

 


End file.
